Comments on: A Walk to Divonne

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:02:39 +0000

thanks again for the pointers, Jane, I shall certainly follow them up!

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:26:33 +0000

It does sound very niche – but actually it’s a really good book for bees in general. We’re lucky because in Dorset we get very similar bees to Surrey! A good “all round” bee book (although only for UK Bumbles) is the little book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Guide-Bumblebees-Britain-Ireland/dp/0954971310/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287138233&sr=1-1 again… this won’t cover all the european bees. Just thought of a great place you can look for “european” bees. Nico lives in Belgium and is a bee expert http://www.flickr.com/photos/90408805@N00/ Happy hunting! Jane

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:51:41 +0000

Bees and Wasps of Surrey? Wow, those are niche books! I’ll have to do some homework and find out if they are valid for my neck of the woods.

Thanks for the link to your holiday photos. I now know that the huge SUV of a bee I saw a couple of months ago is probably a violet carpenter bee. You’re right, those things are big!

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:35:08 +0000

What a shame that the apple tree wasn’t left. It looked wonderful. Look forward to seeing any pics of the ivy bee nr you. If you need a good book for bees (UK one I’m afraid) Bees of Surrey is good http://www.bwars.com/bees_of_surrey_book.htm (wasps of surrey has just come out – equally good http://www.surreywildlifegifts.org.uk/collections/frontpage/products/wasps-of-surrey ) Not sure about the European solitary bees I’m afraid – although I do know that you get a lot more than we get in the UK. I had a field day in France this year on holiday http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=37204824%40N05&q=france+bee&m=text saw some absolutely stunning bees! Jane

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:50:52 +0000

Hi Jane,

these photos weren’t taken in my garden, they’re on a walk from where I live to a nearby town. My ‘garden’ is just a patio, but with a few large pots and a lot of work I’ve had a great deal of wildlife there too, which is nice. The apple tree didn’t get the chance to survive, I suspect it ended up as firewood. There’s no trace of it left now.

I’ve been thinking about your Ivy bee again this autumn as the ivy starts to flower again. If I find any, I’ll be sure to post photos. I don’t know if they live near me, I guess I’ll find out! I didn’t know just how many varieties of bee there are until this year, I need to get myself a good guide and learn about them!

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:25:57 +0000

What a great array of wildlife you have in your garden. I love your apple tree that isn’t giving up. I guess it has made collecting the apples easier – what a wonderful tree. Did it survive the winter? Your bee on purple flower looks like Bombus pascuorum (common carder bee). They are everywhere in my garden at the moment. Worth looking out for the Ivy Bees again this year… lots in Dorset this year.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:05:42 +0000

One of the children found one of the moth caterpillars in the garden at school the other day.
Now I shall be able to tell them what its called!